Let Girls be Girls Campaign

[mems4]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-21670962
I'm new to Mumsnet and was encouraged to join this week following the great media coverage about your views on the "toxic combination of marketing, media and peer pressure" on young girls growing up. I've logged on to Mumsnet but can't see any information about the recent online survey or about developments regarding your campaign, 'Let Girls be Girls'. I'd love to see this campaign feature on your homepage with a link to ideas about what action parents can take eg. writing to MPs, advertising bodies, retailers etc. I think we need to keep up and intensify the pressure regarding this subject in order to achieve positive developments, soon.
ps. Natasha Walter's 'Living Dolls' - well worth a read!

[gritts1]

Hi Mems4, I too am a new member and I just asked a question if this campaign was still running. The main campaign page has dead links etc.

I think the campaign needs revisiting.

[mems4]

Hi Gritts1,
I agree it would be great to generate interest in this campaign again. All the information on the mumsnet site about the influence they had on retailers stocking lads mags was really encouraging but this activity seems to date from 2010. We're now in 2013 and there is still a lot of discussion taking place about the need for change in this area. For example, I work at the University of Sussex and today they have issued the following findings re, the lad culture amongst students....
www.sussex.ac.uk/newsandevents/?id=18312
Any ideas from other users about how to engage Mumsnet again in this campaign?

[gritts1]

Hi mems4, I couldn't agree more. Have you heard about the work currently being done by NoMorePage3 surrounding the Sun and Universities and that fact student unions are starting to vote to stop selling it?

The Let Girls Be Girls campaign needs a relaunch. The argument against exposing children to sexualised images is stronger than ever with the current news agenda.

We should stop and consider if the retailers are still top shelving lads mags and also why don't they top shelve some of the daily newspapers who will put the same type of images on their front pages.

[mems4]

www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/dominic-mohan-take-the-bare-boobs-out-of-the-sun-nomorepage3

Thanks gritts1. I did a search and came across this petition.
Anyone else feel like signing - to ask The Sun to ditch page 3?

Can anyone else suggest other action to take on this subject? Are any other parents out there keen to see the 'Let girls be girls' section of the Mumsnet site getting active again and having a greater profile on the site?

[gritts1]

I've signed!

This is the main site and a link to the work they are doing with students:

nomorepage3.org/news/students-no-more-page-3-needs-you/

I have emailed Mumsnet asking for a bit of a relaunch to the 'Let girls be girls' campaign.

[StephanieDA]

Absolutely agree. 'Let girls be girls' is even more necessary now than in 2010. Reports from schools and universities are shocking, our girls and young women are not being given 'equal opportunities' in education as long as this situation exists.
Page 3 is especially insidious in its placement in a 'family' newspaper which makes it a culturally-condoned view of women's value in society. Schoolboys can actually buy this, and they know instinctively how to use it to intimidate girls. Culturally conditioned 'lad' behaviour starts here.
I would like to see Mumsnet relaunch the campaign and include within it a championing and support for the NoMorePage3 petition. Schoolgirls and university students have a right to feel supported by their culture but at the moment they see that the culture supports the lads.

[mems4]

Good to hear from you StephanieDA. It will be interesting to see how Mumsnet reply to you gritts1. I really hope that we can start a fresh debate between parents on the site. Pressure needs to be applied to politicians, schools and universities, the media, advertisers, the music industry, mobile phone companies etc to address the concerns many in our society share about the hypersexualised culture our young children/young adults are growing up in.
It's two years until the next general election. By applying pressure NOW, the main political parties might be encouraged to start to take action sooner rather than later, in order to attract our attention and win our votes!!

[mems4]

Note the live webchat with Diane Abbott on Thursday!

[SimoneDeBeaver]

mems have a read if the Feminist boards too.

Not sure what is happening with 'Let Girls' campaign, and agree at least the links should be refreshed. I'll report my own post and see if MNHQ can get back to you.

and ignore Tyrone

[gritts1]

Is the web-chat with Diane Abbott the campaign update? I think we need to check again on what our retailers are up to. There is a lot of evidence of the Lads Mag 'rules' are being ignored. What about the Sun and the Star = Lads newspapers?

[baltazarandblimunda]

Has anyone heard back from mumsnet about this campaign? What's happened to it? I went to the main thread on the campaign, but there is no information on how to actually join it. Is it no longer running? If not, why not? It's clear that the issue hasn't gone away. Only the other day, I came across some ridiculously lacy underpants at H&M - for my 5-year-old. Ugh.